The Alchemist sampler

On my lone trip to Vermont, the stars didn’t align for a visit to The Alchemist in hopes of scoring its legendary IPA, Heady Topper. I wrote their beers off as something I might never taste. With such diverse beer offerings everywhere, it’s harder to hunt down cult beers everyone wants and rating sites adore.

Without warning, four cans from The Alchemist came to me. I owe many thanks to Trev Lawson for making this tasting possible with his kind donation from a recent Vermont trip. I haven’t paid him back because this is a steep bill.

I could have blundered through all four beers in an evening, but instead sampled one a night and before anything else. I followed their instructions on imbibing wherever possible.

I started with Skadoosh American IPA XII. The nose is a floral and beautiful. Hazy orange body as expected, the nose also hides line of smoked meatiness. The Alchemist’s brewer change the recipe with each iteration. This time The Alchemist dry-hopped with Citra hops- previous iterations include Summit and a range of other hops. The head vanishes quickly into a barely visible lace. Citrus and tropical fruits are abound – notes of tangerine, lemon and mango erupt from the body. The tropical fruit gets supplanted by a dose of grapefruit zest late on the palate. The fruit notes just pop; it’s as lively a beer as you’re bound to find. Skadoosh has the lightness of a New England IPA but the hops definitely mix up the formula. A phenomenal start.

Focal Banger stuck to Citra and Mosaic hops paired with pale British malts. Again, the malt does not intrude, letting the hops work their collective magic. The label spends several paragraphs vouching for the need to drink from the can, and I concur. There’s a nice linger resin finish – not bruising but just right.

The brewer says keeping it in the can preserves the hop aromas better. Focal Banger has a strong citrus complexity, with the usual complement of orange, lemon, grapefruit and others, not to mention the piney effervescence present throughout. I like a top-notch IPA that’s unpretentious. Still, it’s dry enough that I needed a glass of water after I finished the can.

For a break, Luscious British Imperial Stout (9.2 percent ABV) easno slouch. Pouring darker than almost any stout I’ve ever seen, a bold brown lace tops it, emitting all kinds of stout characteristics but on steroids. This was as intense a stout as I’ve ever had, condensing all the best virtues of British stouts in one beer, then amplifying them through the higher alcohol content.

On the fourth night I reached the real prize, Heady Topper IPA, the beer that made The Alchemist famous. Again, I drank from the can, my senses inundated with the floral hop presence and the muddy orange notes that follow. I feel repetitive in describing the bright citrus notes and the light body for an 8 percent beer, but they are brilliant.

I enjoyed the piney notes and resinous textures that linger – it gives an IPA, a beer that must be enjoyed fresh, the character and nuance of a Belgian gueuze, a beer often tasted at great age. The resin gives Heady Topper an interesting afterburn, not harsh in any manner, but pleasant. It’s sometimes musty and dirty, as if cobwebs in the brewery impart some barely perceptible character. I have tasted other IPAs similar to this, but not this IPA. Like a Pliny the Elder or other keystone American IPA, these beers have to be tasted for themselves.

Drinking this can, I get the Heady Topper difference, see what other IPAs aspire to achieve. Most have a long way to go. The Alchemist is already there.